Isolation common when starting a small business

Jones' situation: It's not only tough to find any personal time, she says, but it's also emotionally daunting to run her own firm. Without a business partner, she has to make many big decisions on her own. She's often lonely and overwhelmed. "I feel so isolated," she says. Her 25-year-old son, Robert, helps her out immensely, but his goal is to build a career in music. "It's my dream" — and not his — to run a bakery, she says. She doesn't want to bog him down with her business issues, but she doesn't know where else to turn. "Who do you talk to?"

Deen and Weiner's advice: Deen can relate. "At my first restaurant, my business was doing well, but my personal life was going straight to the (toilet)," she says. "It was terrible; I was sad and lonely and depressed." The majority of her time was spent on work-related issues, with only small slivers for family and sleep.

As she's surrounded herself with strong business allies, she's been able to get more balance. But when launching or growing a business, feelings of sadness, loneliness and imbalance come with the territory, Deen and Weiner say.

"You have to pay the piper," says Weiner, who was so busy when he launched his firm that he only had one meal a day — breakfast — with his small children.

While it may not solve all — or even any — of Jones' business problems, one way to temper the emotional lows is to find a shoulder to lean on. It could be a mentor, a peer, a friend or family member. "Everybody needs a cheerleader," Deen says. "I had a mentor and people I knew in the business who I could call up and talk to," Weiner says.

Deen had her Aunt Peggy: She "was my salvation," she says. "I would call her and say, 'I'm exhausted.' She would get in her car and stay two weeks with me to get me though that period."

Don't let those feelings of depression or isolation lead to poor decision-making, Deen says. "My loneliness drove me to make some bad, bad decisions regarding my personal life," Deen says. "I got involved with a married man because I was so lonely and I had nobody to talk to.

"Never, never let yourself sink that low," she warns. "You have to be careful that your exhaustion and your loneliness won't drive you to make bad choices."

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